KU must hand over un-aired documentary video, Miles practice footage in lawsuit: judge
A Kansas judge refused a request by Kansas Athletics to toss out subpoenas from former football coach David Beaty, whose lawyers are seeking evidence from its football documentary “Miles to Go” and also practice footage from current coach Les Miles’ first season.
The order issued Tuesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gwynne E. Birzer in Wichita could potentially aid Beaty’s 2019 lawsuit against Kansas Athletics. The lawsuit accuses Kansas Athletics of concocting a way to reclassify his firing so that it could avoid paying him $3 million due under the remainder of his contract.
Beaty was originally fired during an unsuccessful Kansas Jayhawks football season in 2018. Beaty said upon his firing that KU athletic director Jeff Long told the coach he would get his $3 million. Later, Beaty was informed that his payments would be withheld while the football program was being investigated for potential NCAA violations, and later, he was told by KU Athletics that his firing had been changed contractually to “for cause.”
It emerged that one of Beaty’s analysts had given coaching instruction to players, breaking a rule that limits how many people can be involved in directing players.
Beaty’s lawyers, in requesting Miles’ practice footage, want to explore how KU Athletics handled Beaty’s alleged violations compared to those potentially committed under Miles’ watch. In addition, Beaty’s team claims that non-aired video footage of the ESPN+ “Miles to Go” documentary could provide evidence of Long discussing Beaty’s firing, while indicating it was planned well before his termination was officially announced in early November of 2018.
KU’s lawyers sought to quash those subpoenas, arguing that information related to Miles’ tenure was not relevant to the case, while also stating their belief that practice footage contained confidential and proprietary information that could harm KU’s program if made public. In addition, KU’s legal team cited a concern about the videos containing information regarding student-athlete privacy that is protected by the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Birzer, in her ruling Tuesday, said Beaty’s legal team was entitled to the video footage, in part, because the videos “could provide additional insight into (KU Athletics’) motivations regarding NCAA investigations.”
As part of the order, Birzer commanded KU Athletics to respond to Beaty’s lawyers’ discovery requests by May 15, with a future conference between the judge and both sides scheduled to address potential FERPA and privacy issues related to the videos.
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 5:22 PM.
